Audio Courtesy: N. Sridhar

SANGEET KE SITAARON KI MEHFIL

AMEEN SAYANI'S PROGRAMME ON KANAN DEVI
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aur sangeet premeeyon, ab Sangeet Ke Sitaaron Ki Mehfil ke raaste ham
sab milkar chalne waale hain us sureele zamaane mein jab
main 'school' mein paDhaa karta tha aur aap mein se kai to shaayad
paida bhi naheen huye honge! magar us zamaane mein kai gaayikaaen
aisi theen jinke gaane aaj bhi agar suno to baDe hi meeThe lagte hain
jaise ki yeh...

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Song: dekhat hai ab baaten piya ki jal se bhare mere naina (Vidyapati)
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yeh gaayika keval sureelee hi naheen balki behad haseen bhi theen,
jee haan, matlab yeh ki yeh keval gaati hi naheen theen
balki 'screen' par nazar bhi aaya karti theen. yeh theen koyal si
aawaaz aur phoolon ki rangat waali 'singing star' Kanan Bala, jo
Kanan Devi ke naam se bhi mashoor theen. magar isse pele ki main
Kanan Devi ke geeton ka 'carava' shuru karoon, ek vinati hai aap se
baheno aur bhaaiyon, dekhiye ghar ke baDon, yaani daada daad, naana-
naani, maama maami, chaacha chaachi, sabko bulaa leejiye 'radio' ke
paas kyunki unko lagega ki beeta huya zamaana lauT aaya hai. yaani
Vidyapati aur Hospital aur Jawab jaisi puraani filmon ka zamaana.

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Song: duniya yeh duniya toofaan mail (Jawab)
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aap baheno aur bhaaiyon, chhoTon aur baDon, tayyaar hain? yeh shuru
ho rahi hai Kanan Bala yaani Kanan Devi ki sureelee kahaani. kaano
mein ras gholnewaali koyal, nainon ko prem ki dhoop chhaon pradaan
karnewaali roop sundari Kanan Devi, jinkaa chehra aur swar to filmon
se kai barson pehle ojhal ho gaya tha magar woh Khud is duniya ko
chhoDkar chali gayeen 1992 ko 17 July ke din.

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Song: ae chaand chhup na jaana jab tak main geet gaayun (Jawab)
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is madhur geet ke film ka naam kabhi mat bhooleeyega - Jawab. Kanan
Devi ki paidaaish sangeet se behad lagaav rakhnewaale parivaar mein
1916 mein huyi. nanhi si umar mein hi unhone sangeet se naata joDna
shuru kar diya. unke pitaa hi unke pehle guru the. lekin pitaa ke
maut ke baad gareebi aur kandhaari ke aalam mein unhe filmon mein
kaam DhoonDna paDaa. unki pehli film thi Joydev jo 1926 mein bani
thi. woh zamaana mook filmon, yaani 'silent films' ka tha aur film ke
mehanataane ke roop mein Kanan Bala ko mile the kitne rupay aap
jaante hain? sirf 5 rupay! 5 rupay din ke ya 5 rupay maheene ke
naheen, 5 rupay poori film ke. Kanan Bala ki pehli bolti film thi Jor
Bora, Bangaali film thi jo 1931-32 mein bani thi. us film ne unhe
thoDi si pehchaan to dee lekin log unhe asal mein jaane lage Shri XXX
se. aur unki Thos chaavi banee 1936 mein Debaki Bose ki mashoor film
Vidyapati se. Vidyapati mein gaaye unke gaano ne film premeeyon ke
dilon par jaadoo kar diya, Kanan Bala kaamyaabi ki choTee tak
pahuncheen, aaj bhi sangeet premeeyon ke dilon par Vidyapati ke geet
raaj kar rahe hain jaise "hamri nagariya mein" aur "Dole hriday ki
nayya" aur "ambua ki Daali". kya aawaaz thi unki, kya miThaas, kya
murkiyaan!

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Song: ambua ki Daali Daali jhoom rahi hai aali (Vidyapati)
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apne kareeb 40 varsh ki 'film career' mein Kanan Devi ne us waqt ke
lagbhag sabhi 'top heroes' ke saath kaam kiya jaise K L Saigal,
Pramathesh Baruah, Ashok Kumar, vagerah vagerah. betahaasha bikaa
karte the unke gaaye huye geeton ke 'records'. Kanan Devi ne sirf 8/9
Hindi filmon mein kaam kiya tha 1936 mein bani Khooni Kaun aur 37
mein Vidyapati, iske nirdeshak the Debaki Bose, 1937 mein Mukti
jiske 'director' the P C Baruah, 1938 mein Phani Mazumdar ki film
Street Singer, aur 1939 mein Hemchander ki 'direct' kee huyi film
Jawani Ki Reet. usi saal Debaki Bose ki film Sapera, aur 1940-41 mein
Abhinetri aur Lagan. in dono filmon ke nirdeshak the Nitin Bose aur
dono mein Kanan Bala ke 'hero' the K L Saigal. film Lagan ke geeton
ne kya dhoom machaaee thi un dino, aap mein se kaiyon ko ab tak yaad
hogaa zaroor.

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Song: tum bina kal na aave mohe (Lagan)
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film Lagan ka yeh gaana bahut mashoor to huya hi tha, is film ke liye
Kanan Bala ko 'Best Actress' ka 'award' bhi mila tha. aur uske baad
unki 'hit' filmon ki kataar lag gayi saahab! 'mythological,
historical' aur 'social' filmon mein unhone jamkar bhumikaaen
nibhaaeen, unki mahaan aawaaz bhi samaa baandhti rahi. New Theatres
ki film Mukti ka ek 'hit' geet sunwaata hoon aapko, leejiye suniye...

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Song: saanvariya man bhaaya re (Mukti)
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baheno aur bhaaiyon, Sangeet Ke Sitaaron Ki Mehfil mein ham Kanan
Bala ke sundar sureele jeevan safar mein unki yaadon ke saath saath
chal rahe the. yeh safar ham phir jaari karte hain unke ek aur
behad 'hit' geet se. film thi Jawab.

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Song: tu haan kar jaa yaa naa kar jaa (Jawab)
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us zamaane mein, yaani 1935 aur 1940 ke aaspaas Kalkatte mein New
Theatres aur doosri companiyaan Hindi aur Bangla, dono hi bhaashaaon
mein filmen banaaya karti theen. Kanan Bala dono bhaashaaon mein
gaakar aur abhinay karke poore desh ki chaheetee kalaakaar ban
baiTheen. 1949 mein Kanan Bala ne Shrimati Productions ke naam se
apni 'film company' kholee aur usi saal Haridas Bhattacharjee se
unhone shaadi bhi kar lee. Shrimati Productions se unhone Sarat
Chandra Chattopadhyay ki mashoor upanyaason yaani ki 'novels' par
aadhaarit filmon ka nirmaan shuru kiya jinki 'direction' unke pati
karte rahe. 'producer' ke roop mein bhi Kanan Devi ne achchhi Khaasi
kaamyaabi haasil kee. aKhbaaron ne bhi unhe Khoob saraaha. unhe
kabhi 'glamour queen' kahaa to kabhi 'nightingale'.

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Song: mohe man mein biThaana na chaaho (Hospital)
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yeh geet Kanan Bala ki film Hospital ka tha. us dauraan unhone
Lucknow ke Ustad Allah Rakha se kuchh samay tak sangeet ki taalim
lee, lay aur taal Theek karne ke liye tablaa bhi seekha unse. 1937
mein banee Mukti hi woh film thi jismein Pankaj Mullick ke sangeet
nirdeshan mein unhone pehli baar Rabindra Sangeet par banee dhune
gaakar tahalka machaaya. aur usi film ne unhe Kanan Bala se Kanan
Devi banaa diya. aur tab tak unki aawaaz mein pukhtagi ka nikhaar bhi
aa chukaa tha.

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Song: kaisa ujDaa chaman khushi ka (Mukti)
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kuchh saal pehle apne kisi 'press interview' mein Kanan Devi ne kahaa
tha ki unke 'career' ne unke jeevan ko aur unke jeevan ne
unke 'career' ko kabhi nuksaan naheen pahunchaaya. unhone bataaya ki
jab unka beTa baDa ho raha tha tabhi unhone filmen chhoD dee aur ab
apne pote ki khilkhilaahaTon mein aur apni pooja-paaTh mein woh poori
tarah santushT hain. haan, yaadon ka ek lamba sa kaafila unke saath
zaroor chalta raha jo shuru bhi Kalkatte se hota hai aur khatam bhi
Kalkatte par. woh Kalkatte ki Tollygaunje ko, apni zameen ko kabhi
naheen chhoDna chaahengi. aur waaqai, us 'interview' ke baad bhi
Kanan Devi ne Bambai ke maayanagri ke moh mein apni zameen kabhi
naheen choDee. unhe Bambai ke 'producers' us zamaane mein bhi 5 lakh
tak dene ko tayyaar the lekin woh na maanee. Kanan Devi ko 1968 mein
Padmashree ki padvi milee aur 1976 mein unhe 'Outstanding
Contribution to Films' ke liye Dada Saheb Phalke Award pesh kiya gaya
jo 'senior' filmi hastion ko sarkaar ki taraf se diya jaata hai
aur 'film industry' ka sabse aham 'award' maana jaata hai.

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Song: na jaane kya hai dil ka raaz (Mukti)
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aur phir huya ek sunehre sureele daur ka ant. 1992 mein us abhinetri
aur har dil mein basnewaali gaayika ne apni miTTi mein, apne alkatte
mein apna shareer tyaag diya. lekin Kanan Devi ki filmen aur baawre
koyaliya ki sureelee kook jaise unke geet aanewaali peeDhiyon tak
goonja karenge, fazaaon mein mahka karenge. jee haan, Kanan Devi to
chalee gayeen, lekin unki preet hamesha zinda rahegi.

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Song: preetam se preet nibhaayungi (Street Singer)
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to yeh theen Kanan Bala. kaano ke liye preet ka amrit aur aankhon ke
liye phoolon ki taazgee. baheno aur bhaaiyon, mere paas Kanan Bala ka
koi 'interview' naheen tha aur na hi maine Kanan Bala ki filmen hi
dekhee hain, phir bhi unki aawaaz ke sahaare Sangeet Ke Sitaaron Ki
Mehfil mein unki sangeet kahaani pesh karte huye puraani meeThee
mohabbaten jaag uThi mere dil mein aur aapke dil mein bhi yahi huya
hoga, hai naa? haan! aur doston ab ham ek haseen karwaT lekar bahut
baras pehle beete huye kal ko chhoDkar phir lauTnewaale
hain 'playback singing' ke sunehre daur mein. magar wahaan poori
tarah pahunchne se pehle agar ham Kanan Devi ka ek aur geet sun len
to bahut achchha rahega kyunki unki yaad goonjti hi rahe hamaare dil
mein, aaj bhi, kal bhi, hamesha...

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Song: Dole hriday ki nayya (Vidyapati)
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THE END